Here you can share your experiences with substances that are ingested, inhaled, or otherwise consumed for the purpose of relieving RLS/WED, other than prescription medications. For example, herbal remedies, nutritional supplements, diet, kratom, and marijuana (for now) should be discussed here. Tell others of successes, failures, side effects, and any known research on these substances. [Posts on these subjects created prior to 2009 are in the Physical Treatments forum.]

Important: Posts and information in this section are based on personal experiences and recommendations; they should not be considered a substitute for the advice of a healthcare provider.

AriaLittlhous wrote:I find that the thc calms my legs, but makes my mind active, even the indica. Still the relief from the pain is very welcome.

THC makes my mind active too, to the point where I can’t sleep and walls become very interesting to stare at. What works for me is CBN (not CBD) and you get it by ageing the THC. I used to put the marijuana flower in a mason jar in my window for about a month but then figured out a quicker way by way of a UV light in a box. CBN is considered “nature’s benzo” and I think it was discovered by “recreational enthusiasts” after finding an old bag of pot that had been forgotten and therefore was aged. It makes me very sleepy, relaxed, and I’m able to turn off my thoughts and go to sleep. I primarily have PLMD now (LDN seems to have stopped my RLS except for rare, mild, and short lived events) and CBN doesn’t stop the movements. Along with a cocktail of low dose medications I’m able to sleep and feel moderately rested most days. You won’t hear about CBN a lot but if you ask about it people are usually familiar with it at dispensaries. Although not many doctors familiar with medical marijuana are familiar with it. Many think I’m messing up how I’m saying CBD when I explain my protocol, but recently I saw a naturopath for my mother who has sleep problems and the doctor asked if we had tried CBN, so hopefully it’s catching on.

What I've found in the 3-4 years I've been using it is that some strains work great and others don't really work at all. I agree, that it often seems that the THC does make the legs more relaxed. Overall though, for me, the combination works best. The CBD does stop the jerking as long as it's taken with the THC, I usually take slightly more of the THC than CBD. Lately, I've been taking a CBD tincture that is supposed to be 4 times stronger, so I'm trying to take a little less of it. And the other thing I've found is that when the RLS wakes me up 2-3 hours after falling asleep, I need to immediately take another dose of both. If I wait too long, or wait for the previous dose to start working again just because I'm up walking, that doesn't work. I now take another dose of both, right away, then walk around a bit, and usually I can go back to sleep about 20 minutes after dosing.

It's taken me a long time, but I am getting more sleep these days, and have more energy again. What I'd really love, though, is if they could figure out exactly what works and put it into a capsule so we could just swallow it and be done.

Thanks Peggy. Relative to you, I've just started experimenting and I did start trying to make the cbd work, w and w/o thc, though I could try to vary that. Right now unless I take very high amounts of thc, over 25 mg, I just don't sleep. It calms my legs w/o any cbd. I'm wondering if cbd might work better for people who are thc "naive".

I have to say that I do know exactly what you mean about THC. It definitely does help me go to sleep, and there's the "couch lock" or "leg lock" sensation where I feel like my legs are glued to the mattress, which is a great incentive to fall asleep. I guess I've been using the combo all this time because on my very first visit to a dispensary, after I received my very first MM card, the person who helped me recommended Critical Mass in a vapor pen. It worked immediately! And it continued to work for about 2 years, but it was sometimes hard to find, the dispensary was frequently out, but nothing else worked as well. It was close to 50-50, CBD-THC, but slightly more CBD, maybe 3 percentage points. But it would have me soundly asleep, in about 15 minutes. But, maybe tonight, based on what you've said, I'll try just the THC tincture and see how it goes. It would be nice to only have one thing to buy. I also know what you mean about your brain being very active. I've found that concentrating on deep breathing helps my brain to let go of all the craziness THC can dispense to your brain. THC can make me start analyzing everything I've ever done in my life, which can take up a lot of time! Hope this makes sense!

Can people please post the ratio of cbd to thc they’re using? Strains, delivery method and whether you were thc “naive” or not would also be very helpful. I’ve had enough luck that I feel like I want to keep trying, but it is hard. I’m tired.

Hi guys.I could have jumped in on a number of posts so I'm just doing a quick reply instead.I relate 100% to Yawny on CBN. I have tried all combos of MMJ and regardless of what the percentage is, or if's it's Sativa dominant, Indica dominant or a hybrid, THC activates my brain. I can have the most extreme couch lock and my brain remains active. Those times are the worst. I imagine being buried alive and still conscious (I've been reading too many Edgar Allan Poe stories!)

I recently took a trip to Colorado primarily to get my hands on Mary's Medicinals CBN capsules. I slept great while I was there. It's not the answer for RLS but it sure helps insomnia.

On the subject of electric blankets that NatWest, RustSmith and others mentioned: I love my electric blanket (and I live in the tropics.) Just 2 night ago my feet were super cold and there was no way I was getting to sleep. I put it on and it was a huge help. When it gets colder I like to "Preheat" my bed. When I get in I'm nice and toasty and can usually turn it off. It seems to be a help in falling asleep for me. I can't use socks as I have small fiber neuropathy and socks feel yuck.

I agree, I think the electric blanket has been the single most helpful thing I've tried. I still need to take the tinctures, but the combination has allowed me to start sleeping longer segments, 4+ hours between doses. Last night I slept 8 hrs and 30 minutes total, only waking up twice, for about 15 minutes each time. I'm really happy when I hear that others are beginning to find some relief, too. Can you imagine if our doctors prescribed medicine, but didn't tell us how much to take or when or how often? .... but I'm finally starting to feel like I'm seriously improving. And a big part of that is a result of reading what others are doing that seems to be working for them.

Radio New Zealand had an interesting interview with an expat Kiwi living in California who has developed a range of cannabis teas specifically for women (although I don't know why they wouldn't work for men). The interview is 23 minutes long but, I think, worth the listening time.

Just wanted to say I am so happy to read one account here of another RLS sufferer who has found total relief with MMJ and has been able to stop all Rx meds. I've augmented on all the dopamine agonists, had allergic reactions to patches, had side effects from gabapentin (but not so much with Horizant, which is gabapentin encarbil - don't know why) and while low dose methadone also stopped my RLS symptoms 100%, the psychological side effects are not something I can deal with long term. My doctor has told me he doesn't know what to do. So my last option seems to be MMJ. I hope that it will be 100% effective and I can stop my current Rx of Horizant, methadone and trazadone. My state (Arkansas) legalized it over 2 yrs. ago, and those of us who have been approved for a MMJ card are just waiting for the dispensaries to be licensed so that we can get our cards and obtain safe, locally grown MMJ. I hope that the RLS Foundation can and will fund research that will result in more than anecdotal evidence, so that RLS sufferers will be better informed. Thanks

BeckyS, the research into MMJ for RLS is just getting started. The issue was that since it is still against federal law, any research lab that receives federal grant money, i.e. all of them, would jeopardize that funding if they didn't satisfy all of the federal requirements for studying Schedule 1 drugs. That took time, but the University of Colorado is just getting started.

As for your issue with methadone, I also had psychological side effects from methadone after 2+ years on the smallest dose made. My doctor switched me to Tramadol ER and it is working well and I have not had any issues, yet. In a presentation made by Dr Earley of Johns Hopkins last month, he stated that all of the opioids are interchangeable with it comes to treating pain, but they are not when it comes to RLS. Therefore, if one doesn't work, then you simply need to try a different one and then keep trying until you find one that works and doesn't have unacceptable side effects.

I just wanted to share something that's working well for me. I always have a problem figuring how much to take before I get into bed, so I've been trying something new, maybe most of you have already thought of this .....

The main thing I've been taking at night is tinctures, 1 THC Indica and 1 CBO tincture. What I'm doing is putting about 4 droppers of each (about 1/2 inch each) into an espresso cup that I keep beside the bed. I also keep a thermos of coffee. When I'm ready to use, I'll add about 2-3 tsps of coffee to the mixture and drink about 1 swallow. Whenever I need it at night, I add a little more coffee and take a swallow. It will gradually become less potent, so I'm more apt to take more as I need it, if I know it's being diluted.

Anyway, I hope this isn't too confusing. This way I don't have to get up, since I keep it on the table beside the bed. I think you could also add water, tea, or juice if the caffein doesn't work for you.

NatWest wrote:...Anyway, I hope this isn't too confusing. This way I don't have to get up, since I keep it on the table beside the bed. I think you could also add water, tea, or juice if the caffein doesn't work for you.

That’s a good idea Peggy...I’m continually tweaking my procedures as well as I try to figure things out. I recently discovered that cooking my cannabutter longer produces a stronger end product so I can take less of my mini-muffins at night. Most of the advice I’ve received was that a minimum of 4 hours cooking was enough to extract all the medicine out of the mmj flower but I’ve found cooking it for day sessions over two days to be the best. I put my crockpot on in the morning and turn it off at night after putting the inner pot, with everything inside, into the refrigerator for the night. Then I cook it for another day. I don’t cook overnight for safety reasons and it needs to be stirred occasionally.